New Beginnings
by Bevans3315
Summary: "Do you trust me?" "I trust you." "Then run." Joel and Ellie travel to the east coast after they have to abandon Tommy's town. They've been threw so much to survive this world, it'l take even more to stay alive.
1. Chapter 1

**This story takes place in the same universe of the game. There will be chapters that take place during different times in the story. Reviews and Follows are much appreciated. Enjoy the story.**

**Chapter 1: ****Trust**

Joel intently watched the window to their front and the door 15 feet to their right. Both of them hiding behind an overturned couch, It had been ten painful minutes of quietly breathing and watching in tedious agony. Their bodies were beginning to ache from staying motionless for so long. They could hear the infected rubbing against the outside of the home, occasionally coming across a window casting a long shadow.

"There must be 20 of them," Ellie thought to herself.

"Fuck me. This is my fault".

Her face was dirty, but you could still make out all her freckles. Her hair tucked back with a few strands falling on her face. She gazed up at Joel, wondering what he was thinking. He was especially focused on the door now, contemplating something, trying to think a way out of this situation. She shifted her weight to take the pain off one of her knees, doing it slowly making sure not to creak the floorboards. She felt bad, she had been messing up a lot lately. She continued to look up at Joel, his face dirty and showing age. He seemed so tired but was able to remain focused and alert. How he could put up with her was beyond Ellie.

She began to whisper "Joel, i'm sorry this is my fault, I thought I..."

"Run" Joel breathed in response.

Ellie looked up at him confused.

"What?"

"I've got a plan, but you have to run to safety. Towards the woods. Now!"

"What are you going to do?"

"Do you trust me?" he said looking down at her. She was staring back at him with her big green eyes. She looked nervous, not wanting to leave his side.

"I trust you" she said, really meaning it.

"Then run, threw the door, now! Go!" Joel said now yelling at her.

Ellie scrambled to her feet and ran out of the house into an open field. The grass was wet against her ankles and the air was humid causing her skin to collect moisture as she ran. Her legs were numb from being near motionless to suddenly sprinting. Not looking back she made for the tree line 200 yards away.

"Alright come on, you can make it" she said coaxing herself.

Back at the house Joel had hastily closed the door and threw the couch against it. Taking the butt of his gun he broke open the window grabbing the attention of the infected outside. He stood back waiting for them to crawl in; he only had fifteen rounds and a knife but he anticipated they would only be able to come in one at a time. He had fired a few rounds when Ellie started running to keep the infected focused on were he was versus were she was going. He readied himself as the first one crawled in. He gripped his knife and then "THWAK".

Ellie was 100 yards away from the tree line now. Her heart was pounding from the sudden exertion of energy and adrenaline. Still gripping a knife in her hand she took one quick glance back.

"Fuck, no no."

Some of the infected had chased her. She took another quick glance back. "They're catching up to me", she realized. She tried to think quickly. "If I can make it to those trees I can climb up one, surely they couldn't climb right?" She didn't know but it was her best shot. 50 yards away and not looking back she felt the tension as she could here the stomping of the infected behind her. She stayed focused though trying to pump her arms faster trying keeping her breathing steady. 20 yards away she picked out the tree she was going to attempt to climb, sweat running down her face and neck she was already running as fast as she could but she tried to run faster. 15 feet from the base of the tree she had picked out she prepared herself to jump up to a low hanging branch. She threw her arms back to jump; but she felt something yank the back of her hair. "Noooo!" she screamed and was ripped to the ground flinging the knife from her hand.

Back at the house Joel was killing the infected one at a time. Saving his bullets, he used his knife to swiftly stab their necks and then push them aside to let them bleed out on the floor. It was becoming too much though. He had killed 8 or 9 of them when they started to come in faster.

"Screw This"

He starting shooting his gun, headshot after head shot. They were coming in two to three at a time now, he fired 12 of his bullets. Then suddenly there were no infected left. "Surely there must have been more," he thought. When suddenly he heard a scream from outside.

"Ellie" he breathed. He felt panic strike him as he sprinted out the door.

Ellie kicked and clawed for her life, she scrambled backwards throwing her back up against a tree. One of the infected lunged at her giving a screech. She caught it by the throat and tried to shove it back quickly with her legs but was only able to hold it in place. The other one lunged on her side and chomped down full force on her shoulder.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" she screamed.

It dug in deeper shaking its jaws back and forth until she could feel teeth grinding against her shoulder bone.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" screaming louder and sharper.

The pain was agonizing and overwhelming and she couldn't take it. Desperately, she used her free hand and dug her fingernails into the throat of the infected she was keeping back with her legs. She dug in as deep as she could and in one quick movement pulled down hard. Blood squirted everywhere as the monstrous thing screeched slowly bleeding out covering her in its mess.

The other infected suddenly let go of her shoulder and tried to snap at her neck. She fell to the side of the tree and rolled on her back. Trying to use both arms and legs she crawled backwards a bit but it jumped right back on her snapping at her neck. She pushed it up with her arms but her shoulder hurt too much and one arm gave out. The infected nipped the skin on her neck with it's teeth. Warm blood ran down the sides of her neck. Ellie dug her head into the ground trying to get as far away from its snapping teeth as possible even if it was just an inch or two. She felt hot drool drip down on her from its mouth. Then everything seemed to be in slow motion. Her ears began to ring as she stopped hearing everything else. She felt dizzy and completely drained of energy. Her other arm was about to give out from exhaustion and she could no longer grip him with her legs. The pain was too much to bear anymore.

"This is it" She realized. "There's no way out of this". "This is how it ends." Her life flashed before her eyes, she thought about Riley, she thought about the mother she never meet, she thought about how she might get to see them soon. She thought about Joel, how he would react when he found her like this. What he'll feel when he finds the mangled remains of her body. What he's going to do with out her. The last words she had said to him. "I trust you". Her eyes started to water.

"I'm sorry Joel".

She closed her eyes right before what would surely be a fatal last chomp, ready to stop feeling the pain. Then suddenly "BAM". A gunshot. The infected went limp and fell on top of her, dead.

Joel ran as hard as he could. He had seen the whole thing.

"Ellie!" he yelled.

No response. He was fearing the worst. He ran hard not knowing what to expect. He finally got to her side and was relieved to see her breathing. He looked in her eyes, she was in a complete state of shock. She looked up at him with her eyes half closed, opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

"Ellie your hurt!" Joel said noticing her shoulder. "Come on we need to go somewhere to get that clean."

Ellie didn't react. She was in a world of her own. Joel snapped his fingers in front of her eyes.

"Come on we need to move" Joel horsed.

Still no reaction. She looked like she had just been threw a war. She practically had, completely drenched in blood and sweat, clothes tattered. Joel couldn't wait for her wound to get worse.

"All right come on I'll carry you."

He picked her up carefully and carried her deeper into the woods.

**Bevans3315 - Be sure to leave a review and follow the story if you like it. I do occasionally take requests so be sure to let me know. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the support those far. I will continue at least once a week. Thanks!**

**Chapter 2: Deceit **

It was getting darker every moment. Joel had been carrying Ellie through the woods swiftly for only a few minutes when the trees and brush cleared into an opening. Railroad tracks, but which way to go. There could be a town a mile away or a hundred miles away in either direction. Joel looked down to the girl in his arms. Her shoulder was still bleeding heavily. He had ripped part of he's shirt off to wrap around her shoulder to slow down the bleeding and to keep it covered. She was a lot paler now and she hadn't said a word at all. He was really starting to worry about her.

"Ellie?" He said.

"Can you hear me?"

No response. Her eyes were half-open and she was breathing shallowly. He could feel her heart beating slower than it should. Thinking quickly he searched the tracks looking for something to tell him were the closest safe place was. After just a few glances he noticed foot prints lining the tracks. He placed Ellie down gingerly leaning her head against one of the railroad rails and resumed looking at the tracks. They were maybe a day old. He followed them a bit.

"They might be walking away or towards something, theirs no way to know."

He was very stressed and panicked but he kept his cool so he could think straight. The darkness wasn't good. If they ran into more infected out here it would be a big disadvantage. Especially since Ellie was so injured. He was going to need to find a place to disinfect her wound and bandage it. Plus she really needed some food and water and a place to rest. He ran both his hands through his hair. He started to pace, "I should've never let her leave my side, this is my fault, if I lose her because of this..." he swallowed and closed his eyes to just rest his mind for a moment.

"Joel?"

He heard Ellie's voice. He turned to see that she was looking at him. She turned her head against the railroad rail and pointed with her good arm.

"There are more tracks over their". Pointing towards the edge of the woods were the gravel and grass meet. Joel rushed over to Ellie.

"It's good to hear you say something, are you alright?"

She took a breath "I'm very light headed, dizzy, my shoulder really hurts. My whole arm is numb."

Her voice sounded weak and whispery. He could tell it took some energy to say those words. Joel lifted her chin slightly to look at her face. Her eye collier had faded, probably from dehydration, she was still very pale.

"Don't worry I'm going to get you fixed up" Joel said reassuringly.

Ellie looked up at him. She looked like a beaten puppy.

"Okay Joel" she plainly said.

He got up and walked to where she had pointed. There were tracks and they were fresher going in a different direction. Which meant they must lead somewhere. Possibly a camp or a town. A place he could find everything they need. Joel took out his gun and loaded the remaining ammo in it.

"Alright here we go"

He walked back to Ellie. He was about to pick her up when she stopped him.

"I can walk".

"You've lost a lot of blood, I think I should carry you." But Ellie tried to stand up anyway.

"Tough girl". He thought.

She managed to get on her two feet before falling into Joel's arms.

"Save the energy you have." He said sternly.

She just nodded and let him pick her up. She rested her head against his chest as he started to walk. It reminded him of how he used to cuddle his daughter all those years ago. It made him lose himself for a second, but he snapped himself out of it. Joel began to think. He felt very guilty for what happened. He had to try to explain it to her.

"Listen... Ellie, about back there, I never thought it would have gone down like that. Things don't always happen the way you want them to and it was a tough situation. I'm going to get you fixed up good as new I promise."

Ellie looked up at him, her green eyes seemed empty, emotionless, then she looked down. No one should have to go through what she's been through. But that was just the world they lived.

"I should be dead." she whispered.

"What? Ellie no, that's not.."

"Have you ever meet anyone to survive something like that. Anyone else would be dead right now, but not me."

Joel looked at the girl resting her head on his chest. She was right, anyone else would be dead. No one survives something like that. She was lucky.

"Well.. I'm glad you're not dead. You should feel blessed to be alive." Joel cleared his throat. He tried to say something but he was only able to say it in his head. "I don't know what I'd do without you Ellie."

She gripped his shirt a little. "You'd be way better off with out me." she whispered.

Joel stopped. "Now hold on.."

"It's true! All I do is fuck up and slow you down and put you and myself in dangerous situations." Ellie was breathing hard now after all the words she just spoke. She was really worked up now. Her heart was beating faster and it made Joel nervous.

"Please Ellie relax you've been through so much today and I just want to get you patched up and bring you somewhere were we can both be safe."

She stopped and thought for a second.

"Just tell me why you choose to stick by me even when I'm an obvious disadvantage to you" she calmly said.

Joel contemplated a second, "We need to get somewhere now or it's not looking to good for you." He said working his way around the question.

"Do you understand?" He said firmly.

Ellie looked down. "Ok Joel."

They followed the railroad track in complete silence and in complete darkness. Ellie had fallen asleep in his arms. Joel's legs were tired from carrying the both of them. It had been about an hour since they started following the tracks. He came up a hill and saw a light in the distance.

"Finally."

It was only a few hundred yards away. It appeared to be a house. He walked a little closer before hiding behind a stone wall so he could watch the place. Joel laid Ellie on the ground and took out his gun. It was a yellow two-story house with a front porch, illuminated by candles in the window. There was some trees in the yard that could give cover if needed. But what about Ellie.

"Hey wake up." He carefully shook her a little.

"Ellie I need you to be awake for this."

She was completely out cold, getting some much-needed rest. Joel thought. He didn't want to leave her alone again, especially now. But he had to, even if he could wake her up there was no way she could keep up with him. He carried her into some brush, he took off the rest of his shirt and put it under her head. She was covered nicely by the brush. He looked down at her, she was completely defenseless, if something came across her by chance that would be it. He contemplated what would happen if she woke up and he wasn't there. She might think he abandoned her, especially after the conversation they had earlier. He had his gun in his hand, he looked down at her again, he turned the safety on the gun and placed the gun in her hand. It was better than nothing. He would just have to go in there with a knife.

"I'm going to be right back." he said to her. She sleeped so peacefully, like she didn't have a care in the world.

He ran towards the first tree. Peaking around it to see in threw the window. It seemed like no one was in there, but there had to be if there were candles lit. Everyone was probably asleep. Joel snuck to the next closest tree, and the next one, until he was up against the side of the house. The night air was cool, he could here bugs chirping and the occasional owl hooting. He looked up and threw the window. It was the living room, with no one in it. He pressed his hands against the window and pushed up, but it wouldn't budge.

"That would have been to easy." He mumbled.

He snuck around to the porch and crept up to the door. It was very unlikely it would be open but he would try anyway. He reached for the handle, but then it turned by itself. Joel quickly snuck to the side of the door with his back against the house. It opened and a man walked outside and sat down on the edge of the porch.

"Fuckin old lady won't even let me sleep in the same bed even when I bring in all the supplies and do all the work." he mumbled slowly trailing off. He sat on the porch with his head in his hands.

Joel quietly snuck into the house. He made his way through the living room and into the kitchen. He began to open cabinets and drawers looking for medical supplies.

"Bingo." He found some bandages and disinfectant in a bottom shelf. Rummaging through some more he found an apple, some crackers and a juice box. Everything Ellie needed.

"Excuse me sir."

Joel jumped up and turned around. It was a little boy. Probably 5 or 6 years old.

"Are you stealing from us?"

Joel was surprised to see a child. Ellie was the youngest person he had known for a long time. Joel tried to think on his feet.

"What's your name little boy?"

"Joey." he took a few steps back from Joel. "Are you a friend of my dads?"

"Yes, yes I am. I'm just borrowing some stuff from him."

The boy looked at him. He was probably a sight for sore eyes, being up all night and covered in blood.

"I can go get him if you want me to." the boy said.

"No that's ok he knows I'm here already. Why don't you get on back to bed."

The boy looked around and thought for a moment, then he relaxed. He rubbed his eyes, "Ok, I just wanted some crackers and juice before I..

"Joey!" he heard a lady yell from upstairs.

"Where are you?"

Joel tried to put his fingers to his lips to keep the boy quiet but it was no use.

"I'm down here with daddy's friend!" He yelled back.

"Fuck" Joel cursed.

**Bevans3315 - I read every review so let me know what you thought of this chapter and the story over all. I will be updating, so give me your criticism. Follow the story if you enjoy it, Thanks.**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter dives more into who Ellie is. Thanks for the support.**

**Chapter 3: Want**

"I love you sweetie"

"I love you to mom." Ellie said smiling.

She was holding her, stroking her hair. It was a peaceful afternoon. Blue skies and white puffy clouds, a gentle breeze every once in a while.

"Can I stay here?" Ellie said looking up at her mom. "With you?"

"Of coarse you can sweetie." Her mom said smiling.

Ellie nuzzled herself deeper into her mother's arms. It was so peaceful. She hadn't felt this happy for a long time. It almost made her cry. Everything was perfect. Then suddenly something was wrong. She could feel herself slipping away. Everything began to fade, the blue sky, the clouds, her mother.

"No I don't want to go." she said clinging to her mother. "Don't let me go!"

Her mother looked down at her and touched her cheek lightly with her hand. She was crying.

"I'm sorry." She mouthed.

Ellie was suddenly ripped away traveling threw her conscious and landed back into reality. She opened her eyes. The night sky was above her, filled with stars. She felt so heavy. Her mouth was dry. She felt something in her hand. She rolled her head over. It was Joel's gun. Ellie felt the tears down her cheeks. She new deep down it was too good to be true. She sat up, and held his gun. She felt a little better, but was still in some considerable pain.

"Joel?"

"Joel where are you?"

He was no were in sight. She could see a house threw the brush. She was starting to worry now. Where was Joel? She stood up. But then a wave of dizziness hit her and she sat back down. She thought about what she said to him earlier. She still meant every word, but she wished she had kept it to herself.

BAM! BAM! Gunshots. Ellie looked threw the brush. Joel sprinted threw the front door.

"Get back here!" some other man yelled. "You think you can steal from us!"

Joel sprinted right towards her.

"Joel what's going on?!" she yelled.

Joel didn't say anything. He ran and scooped Ellie right up.

"Do you have the gun?" he said.

"Ya, here take it." She quickly gave it to him.

He sprinted carrying her. He went passed the railroad tracks and beyond. He sprinted about a mile into the woods before he found a stonewall and jumped behind it, placing Ellie against it.

"Joel will you tell me what's going on?"

"Shhhh, we have to be quiet."

"But.." Joel put his finger on her lips.

"No talking, I'll explain later."

They sat there in silence. Joel nudged Ellie. She looked down in his hands to see bandages and disinfectant. She took them. He also gave her the juice box. She immediately drank it. She really needed the liquids. It made her feel that much better. They didn't hear anything move for 15 minutes. Finally Joel said it was ok to stand up and move on.

"So tell me what happened." Ellie said

"I got everything you needed to get you fixed up."

"Well ya, but what about.."

"I did what I had to do." Joel said sternly. "End of story. Sit down here were going to clean up your shoulder."

She sat down in some grass. Joel looked exhausted. He had done all this for her. He just couldn't lose her, no matter what.

"This may sting a little." Joel said getting out the disinfectant.

"Owwwweee oh my god that stings!"

"Good, that means it's working. Here I got these crackers and an apple. It'll make you feel better."

Joel had started bandaging her shoulder. She already felt better.

"Do you think we can find a river, so I can wash all this off me." They were both completely filthy. They both could use a good wash and she new it.

"Yes, I think we can do that."

Ellie began to think about her dream. Everything was so perfect there. She looked at Joel finishing up her bandages. It was quite different here. She looked up past the tree line. Even the sky was different here. She began to think about her mother, and how life could be if she was still alive.

"Joel, what was it like to grow up in your time? What was it like to have a family?"

This took Joel back a bit. Ellie had never asked a question like this before. It was an odd time to ask such a question. The last 4 or 5 hours had been hell. Why ask this now?

"Well, I grew up in Texas with my mom, dad and Tommy."

"Did you guys have your own house?"

"Yes, we did."

"A big house?"

"Yes, it was pretty big."

"Do you think, we could have our own place some day?"

Joel paused. This was a new side of Ellie. This whole incident must have knocked something into her. It must seem like heaven to have your own place to come back to instead always being on the move.

"Ellie, to have are own place, would be incredibly hard, it would have to be perfectly secure with a really good location so we could have enough food and supplies."

"But it's not impossible." Ellie said in a serious voice.

"No, its not impossible, but it would be very.."

"So why don't we do it?" Ellie said cutting him off.

"Ellie, I think that.."

"I'm tired of running Joel. I'm tired of being dirty, and putting myself in danger, and putting you in danger. I'm just so tired. I want a place to call ours, I want a home."

Joel looked at Ellie. Her eyes were begging him to say what she wanted to hear. A lot of what she said made sense. What's the point of going place to place constantly if it just means you'll have to continue that process?

"You really want this don't you."

"Yes, more than anything."

Joel rubbed his beard. Were was this all going. Settling down seemed nice, but was that something you could pull off now? It seemed almost like a risk depending on one place constantly. Joel opened his mouth to say something.

"So you think you can steal from my family?" A gruff voice said.

They both jumped up surprised. A man stepped out pointing a gun at them. He walked closer focusing on Joel.

"So what'd you take? I hope it was worth your lives."

Joel swiftly pulled out his gun and pointed it right at him.

"I took what I needed to get her well." Joel said motioning towards Ellie. He looked at that man analyzing him. "I expect you would have done the same for your son."

The man made a very angry face. "How dare you fucking talk about my son. Tricking him so you could make away with are supplies. I should kill you right here!"

"Is that true Joel?" Ellie said.

"I did what I had to do for both of us to survive!" Joel said at both of them.

The man smirked. "Well now your both dead." He pointed the gun at Ellie. Her eyes widened. Him and Joel fired simultaneously. Ellie jumped quickly to the left narrowly dodging his bullet. Joel fired his gun and hit him in the side. He dropped. Joel jumped on top of him trying to hold him down.

"Give up now or I kill you. You've got a son and I've got someone to look after don't be stupid."

But the man scrambled for his gun and started to point it at him.

"BAM!" Joel didn't give him the chance and shot him in the head. It was a mess. A kill or be killed situation, but he wished it didn't have to go down like that. Everything was still, the shock of what happened hitting them both.

"Daddy were are you?! Are you ok!" He heard the voice of the little boy. Ellie and Joel looked at each other. Their hearts sank. He appeared and looked at them, he could see something was wrong on both of their faces.

"Where's my dad?" He said to Joel. He walked closer and then noticed his father on the ground.

"Dad?" He sobbed. He dropped to his knees.

"Can you hear me?" He crawled under his fathers arm and cried. His dad's blood brushing against his face giving a horrible image for Joel and Ellie. His head wound was still bleeding, soaking the little boys shirt.

"No, don't leave me." He looked up at Joel.

"Why would you do this? You said you were his friend and you killed him. You monster."

The last part rang in Joel's ears. "You monster." He tried to reach out for him.

"Don't come near me! Just get out of here! Leave us be." The boy said crying under his dad's arm. All the noise started to attract infected. They had to leave.

"If you stay here with him you'll die." Ellie said looking in the boys eyes. The boy looked up one last time.

"Just go."

Joel grabbed Ellie's arm and they ran. Ellie looked back one more time on the infected closing in on the boy and his father, then she turned and ran trying not to listen to the screams.

**Bevans3315 - As always leave a comment and follow if you enjoy the story. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Next chapter will be a prequel. As always thanks to all who have commented. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Need**

"Joel, I want to talk about it."

He just glanced at her and kept walking. They had walked for a few hours or so. Joel hadn't spoken much. The sun had began to rise, they could hear morning birds as the nighttime insects dimmed down. Ellie was able to walk and keep pace though she was still in some pain. Joel checked her shoulder once and then rebandaged it. They were both very tired.

"Joel, stop." Ellie stopped walking. Joel stopped a few steps ahead of her.

"I'm not holding anything against you. I just want to know what happened."

Joel started talking without turning around. "I think you have a pretty good idea what happened. " There was a silence for a second, but Joel broke it. "Lets find a place to get clean. From there you can rest while I'll go hunt for food. Got it?"

Ellie didn't respond right away. There was so much she wanted to say, but she knew how stubborn Joel was. Trying to get something out of him was like trying to crack a yoke out of a brick. She just had to let it go.

"Got it?" Joel repeated.

"Ya I got it."

Joel started to walk forward. Ellie took a second and then followed him. She thought to herself. "Joel must feel guilty for what happened. He never wanted to talk about anything." It was just like the last day they spent at Tommy's. "It's not safe her anymore. Grab your things and let's go." She could never get a straight answer out of him about that. It had been months since then, and life just seemed to go on, almost pointlessly.

She thought about that little boy, how he had died with his father. She just had to lock it away and move on. She took a breath and looked around. She looked at the trees they were passing. There was so much forest out east. Much more than were they came from. Eventually they would hit the coast, but then what? Probably just move on from there. Ellie slapped a bug on her arm. They were getting thicker. Swarming around in balls making buzzing noises. She started to hear rushing water.

"Joel, do you hear that?"

"Yup, sounds like a place to get clean."

They walked over a slight hill and looked down. There it was, clean and flowing, it was a reliving sight for them both. The river was small but it was enough to do what they needed. They jogged down the hill and directly into the water. It was so cool and crisp; it was a small slice of heaven. They cleaned off there skin and faces. They collected some of the water to put into containers. Ellie cleaned her wound again. It still stung and was tender but it was certainly better than it was. Joel was washing his jacket. It was a nice day, hardly any clouds, a slight breeze every once in while. Not to hot, not to humid. Rather peaceful, it was like a different world compared to the one they had lived in the past day or so.

"You never answered my question."

Joel dropped his head. He looked down at the water and took a deep breath.

"Ellie, I just.."

"About having our own place, finding a home."

Joel could tell now this was something she really wanted. This being the second she brought it up. He had already thought about it. He knew moving place-to-place was tiring for both of them, but staying in the same place seemed too risky. He knew it wouldn't be good if they found a home and Ellie got attached, and then they had to leave because it wasn't safe. It would be Tommy's all over again. But this is what she wanted. Joel began to think what he wanted. He just wanted both of them safe. He wanted Ellie to be happy. He wouldn't mind having a home. Having a place to share with Ellie and keep an eye on her. If they found a really good place he could fortify it. They were getting closer to coast. If he could find a place on the beach it would be considerably safer then being out in the woods like this.

"Ellie, I don't know what to think of that right now. I am putting thought into it though. When we reach the coast, I think that we we'll have a better feel for things out here."

"So you're thinking about it?"

"I am."

Ellie smiled. Just to know he was at least hearing her out was good to her.

"Thank you Joel."

Joel gave a rare smirk, but quickly covered it up.

He grabbed his coat and threw it on. Still a little damp but he knew it would keep him cool. It had been a while since they ate. He could do little hunting before they went off.

"You should stay here and rest up. I'm going to go find us some food."

Ellie nodded and went to the side of the river. She relaxed. She really needed to relax. Joel went off along the river with his gun. Ellie eyes suddenly became heavy. She didn't sleep but she relaxed her mind. She thought about her dream again. She couldn't quite see what her mothers face looked like, but she new she was beautiful. She couldn't make out her voice, but it sounded so tranquil. It hurt her to think about it, but it felt good at the same time. She was beginning to lose herself in her own thoughts, but something snapped her out of it. She heard some noise behind her. She turned around and quickly stood up.

Joel had made it up river a bit. There was a rabbit 20 yards up. He pulled out his gun and took aim. If he could hit it in the head or neck it would mean more food for him and Ellie. He lined up his shot BAM! The rabbit dropped, he went over and collected his prize and made his way back to Ellie. He walked up along the river. He thought about the house again. The more he thought about it the more he wanted it to. It felt pretty natural to just want to settle down. But it wasn't about what he wanted; it was about what was safe and practical. He was almost back to the spot on the river were he had left Ellie. He couldn't see her though. "Great where'd she go off to."?

"Ellie? Were are you?"

He looked around a second. Where'd she go?

BARK BARK BARK

"Hey Joel come see what I found!"

"Oh god now what."

Her voice had come from across the river back into the woods. He crossed over making his way towards her.

"Good boy. Good Boy." There she was, playing with a dog. It was dirty, no collar, definitely a mix breed, only a year old or so. Relatively small dog, big enough to do some damage if it wanted to though. It was definitely enjoying her company. She was petting his neck and ears. She seemed so happy to be in the company of this dirty animal. She looked up at him with her own puppy dog eyes. He new what was coming next.

"Joel, can we.."

"No, absolutely not."

"But why?"

"We don't have time for something like this. How the hell would we even feed it? It's time to go lets get a move on."

Ellie didn't even argue back. She was disappointed but not surprised. She gave the dog one last pat and started walking along side Joel.

"When will we hit the coast?"

"I'd say we've got about two days."

"Are there nice houses along the beach?"

Joel could feel what she was implying.

"There certainly were, who knows what's there now."

Joel felt something brush against his leg. It made him jump and pull out a knife.

"Wait stop! It's just the dog." Ellie said getting in front of him. Joel put away his knife.

"Well great now it's following us." Joel stepped in front of the dog. "Go! Get! Go back to were you came from." The dog just sat down and cocked its head confused at Joel.

"Fearless little bugger."

"We might as well keep him if he's just going to follow us right?" Ellie said hopefully.

"No. Were going, and he's staying." Joel had had enough. He pointed his finger at the dog and starting to say something. But the dog just nuzzled his head into the inside of his hand and licked his fingers.

"Awwe he likes you Joel." Ellie said smiling getting a kick out of all of this. Suddenly the dogs ears perked up. It's eyes focused on something far off in the distance. It's ears twitched and he took off. He stopped and turned around at them and barked once before taking off and out off sight. Joel and Ellie stood there and just watched them run out of sight.

"Well, that takes care of that." Ellie said. "I guess you got your way." Joel didn't say anything.

He could feel something coming. It was like a calm before the storm.

**Bevans3315 - Be sure to folllow and comment if you enjoy this story!**


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is a prequel to what occurs before chapter 1. Eventually all the prequel chapters will lead up right before the events of chapter one. There will be two more prequel chapters after this one before i continue the current story. Thank you for the support from the few of you those far. **

"Hey Joel come help us with this!"

"Sure thing!"

Tommy was repairing some damaged wall. He and 3 other men were lifting a beam into place. Joel grabbed it and helped them move it into place.

"There we go". Tommy said. "Hopefully this doesn't happen again."

"Odd weather we've been having out here. Can't do much to predict it to well either." Joel said.

"Ya, hopefully we've seen the worst of it though." Tommy said unsure of himself.

The weather seemed calm, it was relatively clear. The walls surrounding the town were very strong. This was a rare occurrence that a section of it broke down. They had had a massive hailstorm last night. The wind and lightning was incredibly overwhelming at some points. They saw the clouds come barreling over the mountains and everyone was informed to get inside their homes. The storm damaged more than a section of wall. Roofs were punctured and some of the horses were injured, no one was hurt though. It had been a busy day repairing all the damage. But they had almost got everything back the way it was.

"Is Ellie still with the horses?" Tommy asked.

"Yup".

"Well go get her, I think its time for some dinner."

Joel walked off toward the little farmhouse were they kept the horses. He looked around at the town. He and Ellie had been there about 3 weeks now. Hadn't quite settled in yet. He didn't converse much with the other people living there. He was pretty sure they all only new him as Tommy's brother, but that was ok with him. He looked at the walls as he walked along them. He looked at the people walking along staying busy. They had electricity most of the time, which was useful, but it made Joel nervous. He saw how comfortable people got when they adapted to it. That told him that they weren't ready for what ever was to come. He saw it as a disadvantage. Truth was he never felt 100% safe here. He kept it to himself, but now that he knew a wall could be taken down by a storm, it mixed up a lot of new feeling about this place.

"Hey girl its alright" Ellie said. She was grooming a horse. It was acting a little nervous. It was calming to Ellie to calm the horse. She had had a lot on her mind in the last few weeks. This had been her escape. The storm had injured some of the horses so she was helping out a little longer today. She flipped the bangs out of her face. She had been brushing this horse trying to relax it. It was her favorite one, only because it was still a little bit wild and not fully tamed. She was the only person the horse really trusted. When she first came down to the town and started working with the horses for the first time she was a bit cautious not to get attached to one, but this young white horse won her over when she resisted her as hard as she resisted back. She named her Winston, after an old friend she knew. The horse stirred a bit. She looked up and saw Joel coming down the road.

"Ellie!" He yelled. "Dinner!"

She ran over to him and they began to walk side by side.

"How was the wall?" she asked.

"Not to bad, better now."

Joel watched Ellie walk. She seemed to be in a good mood. She was beginning to like it here. She liked being with the horses. They had been staying at Tommy's the whole time they had been there. He had offered them a house but Joel wasn't quite ready to take one. They walked onto Tommy's front porch and walked in. Tommy's wife was in the kitchen.

"Just in time." She said smiling. She brought over a few plates full of food. "You boys must be starving working all day on all the damage." Tommy's wife was very friendly and could be very housewify, but she could handle a gun and tell you off better than most women could.

They sat down to eat dinner. It was deer; the game had been plentiful the last few weeks so food hadn't been too much of a problem.

"So I'm thinking tomorrow we can look for a house a for you two." Tommy said.

Joel chewed his food. "That's ok, lets worry about fixing the rest of the roofs." he replied.

Tommy sighed and continued to eat his food. He could tell how his brother was feeling. They ate in silence for a while. They could feel thunder begin to rumble. Everyone at the table noticed it.

"Oh no not again." Tommy muttered.

He stood up and walked outside to the front porch. Joel followed him. They both looked up to the sky. The clouds looked menacing.

"Has this ever happened two nights in a row?"

"No it hasn't." Tommy replied.

It started to rain. They saw a quick crack of lightning zip across the sky, then a louder crash of thunder than before. It began to hail a little bit.

"Shit. I'm going to go make sure everyone's inside, go check on the wall!" Tommy said running off. Joel ran to the section of wall they were working on earlier. It seemed all right for now. The hail got a little thicker and the wind picked up. Joel watched the beam he and tommy had just put into place only a few hours ago. It was wobbling slightly. The wind suddenly gusted, the beam and part of the wall was really moving now. Joel could now tell this thing was coming down.

Ellie sat inside and watched the storm. She wanted to help but she new that Joel wouldn't have let her. She was so bored watching everyone else do something while she sat and watched. She looked in the corner of the room were her bow sat. She walked over and grabbed it.

"Only 5 arrows." She had been meaning to get more but it seemed like it wasn't as important as it used to be. She walked over to her bag carrying her bow. She pulled a note out from it. It was carefully folded up. She unfolded it and began to read it.

_I'm going to share a secret with you. I'm not a big fan of kids and I hate babies. And yet...I'm staring at you and I'm awestruck._

_You're not even a day old, and holding you is the most incredible thing I've done in my life, a life that is about to get cut a little short._

_Marlene will look after you. There's no one in this world I trust more than her. When the time comes she'll tell you all about me. Don't give her too much of a hard time. Try not to be as stubborn as me._

_I'm not going to lie, this is a pretty messed up world. It won't be easy. The thing you always have to remember is that, "life is worth living! Find your purpose and fight for it."_

_I see so much strength in you. I know you'll turn out to be the woman you're meant to be._

_Forever... Your loving mother,_

_Anna_

_Make me proud, Ellie!_

The hail began to thud hard off his head. He began to use hands to cover it. The wind and lightning became relentless with the noise. The wind gusted hard again the suddenly it came lose. He watched the beam and part of the wall fall to the ground as if it were in slow motion. He saw outside of the wall, they were exposed now. He looked outside the wall; it was tough to see threw the rain. He was questioning what he should do. He started to see a few shadows beyond the opening.

"Infected." He muttered to himself. He pulled out his gun waiting for them to lunge at him. But they didn't notice him. They seemed to be lost in the storm. He heard footsteps behind him. It was Tommy and about 5 men.

"Oh my god." One of them whispered.

One of them pulled his gun and pointed at one of the infected, he looked scared.

"No wait don't fire." Joel said but it was to late. The infected got hit in the shoulder. The rest of them rushed in. Everyone pulled out there gun and began to fire. It was an epic scene of hail and wind and shots being fired. Joel turned to his right. Tommy was standing next to him; he could see an infected coming from his side. Joel shot it but only hit its torso as it jumped on top of Tommy. Tommy fired his gun straight threw its head as it dropped dead. The rest of them were shot down right after that. Joel pulled Tommy off the ground.

"You ok?"

Tommy didn't say anything back. He rolled up his sleeve and revealed a bite mark on his arm.

**Bevans3315 - A shout out to all who have commented. I'm considering taking a request if anyone wants to do so. Comment your idea. Happy reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

**One more prequel chapter after this one. Thank you for your support.**

**Chapter 6: Fate**

Everyone took a step back, even Joel. The storm continued to rage on, all of the infected lay dead. Parts of the wall continued to crumble were the beam fell. Tommy looked at his bite mark and dropped to his knees.

"Oh no this is so fucked".

Joel didn't say anything. He just watched Tommy. A lot of things were going threw his head. Tommy looked up at him.

"What are we going to do".

Joel paused. "Lets just get you home."

"No! We have shoot him!" a man yelled. He pointed his gun right at Tommy. Joel stepped right in front of him though.

"Your going to shoot this man with out him saying good bye to his family. With him making it home one last time. I'll put a bullet in you before you put one in my brother." Joel pulled out his gun and pointed it at him.

"Your crazy, you're going to let him turn inside these walls in our safe town, the hell with that."

"I think its crazy your wasting your time on this while your wall gets more ripped apart by this storm." Joel began to walk backwards and so did Tommy.

"I'm taking him home you guys try to fix this wall and stand guard against any infected."

The man lowered his gun.

"I hope you no what your doing."

"I do." Joel turned and grabbed his brother and walked away.

Ellie sat in the kitchen with Tommy's wife Marie. They had been sitting there listening to the storm. Ellie was thinking about her horse. She thought it was weird she was more worried about her horse than Joel and Tommy and everyone else. They could defend themselves though. Her horse couldn't.

"When do you think they'll be back." She said.

"As long as this storm continues, it could be all night."

Marie had really taken to Ellie. She made an effort to be extra nice to her. She was finding it hard to break threw to her though. The only person who could really talk to her on a close level was Joel. Ellie new she was trying, it was hard for her to get close with people. It took time.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?

Marie perked up. Ellie never asked her questions.

"Of coarse you can." She said.

Ellie made eye contact with her. "How did you and Tommy meet?"

She smiled. "We meet about 5 years ago, I was with a group that was self-destructing. He came and fixed it and became the leader. We fell in love at first sight. He would sneak me away at night and we'd talk until dawn. Eventually we found this town and decided to make it a safe haven."

Ellie thought for a second. Her story reminded her of Riley, she cringed a bit not showing it but moved on.

"Do you to think you'll ever have kids?"

Tommy's wife smiled and blushed. "Well it's funny you should say that. Tell you what I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone."

"Alright deal" Ellie said curiously.

Marie leaned over and whispered in her ear. Ellie gasped.

Joel walked along side Tommy. They hadn't said anything. They just walked in silence. Finally Tommy broke it.

"Don't tell my wife. Don't tell Ellie."

Joel looked at him surprised. "They're going to have to find out."

"No, I don't want them to no. Not yet. I want to have my final evening to be unstressed and happy. I'll tell them in the morning."

"You may… not make until morning."

Tommy swallowed and looked at the sky. The storm finally receded. The damage was awful, but for once it just wasn't on his mind.

"I'll make it until morning, I'll fight for it."

They walked up onto his porch. They saw Ellie and Tommy's wife giggling in the kitchen window. It was a good sight to them getting along so well.

"Joel, I want you to know something."

Joel stood still. He wasn't an emotional person. He had been threw hell and back many times over. But this was quite difficult for him.

"You're a good brother. I would have died years ago if it wasn't for you. I know I've said those day were like hell. But you kept us both alive. I've never thanked you for that. So thank you."

Joel listened to every word. It hurt to listen to. He didn't no what to say.

"Lets go inside and have a nice evening."

Tommy nodded and they walked in. Ellie and Marie heard them come in and rushed towards them. They immediately sensed something was wrong. They could read the expressions on there face.

"What happened?" Ellie asked

"The wall came down a little bit." Joel said quickly. "But we have men repairing it now, it'll be ok."

Tommy didn't say anything he just starred at his wife. He was a bit pale. She noticed.

"What is it Tommy? I can tell something is wrong. Tell me now. You're scaring me."

Tommy didn't say anything. He gave her a big hug and spun her around. "You're the best thing to ever happen to me you know that right."

"Your really scaring me now. What is it."?

"I… I have a something important to tell you. But not right now. Everything is ok."

She seemed confused and was still scared, but she swallowed her fears and played along.

"Ok, I've got something to tell you to. Will have the conversion later though."

"Good then lets watch a mo….." suddenly Tommy started coughing historically. He fell on the ground. Ellie ran to get some water from the kitchen. His face turned really red, but then suddenly he stopped and was fine.

"What the hell was that?" Ellie said handing him some water.

"It was nothing, I'm just a bit dehydrated that's all." He said climbing back on to his feet. Tommy's wife was completely suspicious something was wrong now. She grabbed Tommy's face and looked in his eyes. She put the back of her hand on his forehead. Then she put her hand on his chest. His heartbeat was slow.

"Tommy, what ever is wrong you need to tell me now."

"I'll tell you later, I promise." He walked away from her and went to grab a movie. "Hopefully this storm didn't knock out the electricity." Joel didn't like how this was going so far. He looked down at Ellie. She was confused to what was going on. He knew if she stuck around long enough she would piece together what was going on. She had seen this a few times before.

"Maybe you should go to bed Ellie."

"What?"

"Ellie, go to bed, trust me."

"I don't understand, what's going on?"

"Do you trust me Ellie." He always said that when it was the most important. She new she had to go to bed now.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight." She walked slowly upstairs to her room. She looked back down once to see Tommy, his wife and Joel all on the together watching a movie. She entered her room. She never locked the door on her room, but something felt way off about tonight. She locked the door and lied down on her bed.

"What the fuck is going on?" she mumbled.

This all seemed familiar in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. Never the less she was still tired. She let her thoughts ramble on until she was completely asleep.

They had started watching the movie. It was "Tommy Boy". It had been a favorite of Joel and Tommy when they were younger. Joel never watched movies or participated in anything to do with electricity, but he made an exception just this one time. No one could pay attention to it though. Threw out the movie Tommy would cough on and off and would get progressively paler. Joel kept his eye on him. His wife got more worried. This must have been torture for her. Why did Tommy just not tell her in the first place? The movie ended. The watched all the credits roll. For a movie that was so funny no one laughed once threw its entirety. His wife spoke up.

"Tell me what's wrong, now. I can't take it anymore. Please if you love me, tell me what's wrong."

Tommy new he couldn't avoid it any longer. He looked up at Joel. "Can you excuse us for a second?"

Joel nodded and went outside on the porch. It must have been after midnight. He rested his head in his hands. He looked up at the sky. Most off the clouds had cleared letting the stars poke threw. It had been 15 minutes since he had been outside. He waited for what would surely be crying and screaming. But it didn't come. It was oddly quiet. He started to get worried. He decided to walk back in to see how things were. He didn't hear talking. He walked into the room they were in. His mouth dropped open.

"Oh my god."

**The next chapter may take a little longer, it won't take longer than a week though.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Situations**

**Sorry this one took so long. Life got busy for me. I've already started on the next chapter though. The next chapter will continue the events that took place in chapter 4.**

Tommy looked into his wife's eyes. She felt more scared than he did.

"You said you had something you wanted to tell me to?" Tommy said. His voice cracked as he finished his sentence. He could feel his eyes begin to water a bit, but he held it together.

"I think you should tell me what's wrong first, please it's killing me." His wife kept trying to lock eyes with him, but he kept looking away.

He took a breath. He began to roll up his sleeve until it revealed the bite. He's wife put her hand to her mouth and gasped.

"No, no, no how did this happen please tell me that's not from an infected."

"It is, I'm sorry Maria."

She dropped to the ground, she didn't cry and scream, she just sat there on the floor. A wave of shock had come over her and it made her dizzy. She couldn't see straight. Her ears began to ring and she felt very hot. Tommy leaned over to her side.

"I'm so sorry honey please forgive me." Tommy finished his sentence sobbing a little.

"I know its hard, but I want you to know that I love you with all my heart and I want you to continue to be safe here. I've thought about it and I want you to live a long happy life even if it's without me. So please do me that favor and promise me you'll be able to pull threw this?"

"I can't make it with out you! There's no way I can! There's no way!

His wife looked at him and simply uttered a couple words.

"I'm pregnant."

Ever since Joel and Tommy walked off together the remaining men tried to keep watch over the hole in their wall. Trying to figure out what to do and how to go about fixing it.

Richard had tried to kill Tommy before he walked into town, but Joel had talked him out of it. He still continued to stroke his black beard anxiously. He didn't like there being a bite victim in there town.

"We should have killed him when we had the chance." He muttered.

"Let it go" another man said. "Joel's a survivor and he knows what he's doing, I have faith in that."

He still kept thinking. He thought until he was almost paranoid. Then he shook it off and walked toward the opening in the wall. He had devised a plan to distract everyone while he slipped away.

"We gota try and lift this beam back into place, from there we can slowly rebuild around it."

"Are you sure? Maybe we should stand guard until morning and wait until we have more men."

But Rich already had his arms under the beam. "You guys gonna help?" Everyone shrugged there shoulders and went over to try it.

"1, 2, 3, lift!" They all groaned as they tried to lift the thing into place. It was really heavy. Rich stayed toward the back of the beam and when no one was looking he let go and made for Tommy's house. He looked back at the men still lifting, he was far enough away that he decided he could run.

"Almost there com on!" They had struggled with the thing a few minutes now. They almost had it in place. It was hard to lift because the wood was so wet. The weight of the beam began to shift, a few men lost grip and the beam fell right on top of one of them crushing his legs.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" he screamed. Everyone panicked they all tried to roll the beam off his legs while he kept screaming. The noise echoed threw the open hole in the wall.

"Oh god infected!" one of them screamed. They all came barreling threw the hole at the men. They were quickly out numbered even as the few left pulled out there guns.

Rich made it to Tommy's house. He saw that Joel was standing outside on the porch. He circled around the place and found an unlocked window. He gripped his knife and crawled in.

He heard Tommy's voice just in the other room. He slowly walked towards his voice until it stopped. He waited for another voice.

"I'm pregnant."

Rich stopped. That was Tommy's wife's voice. He thought to himself. He knew what he was doing was radical, and this made it harder to do what he was about to do. He thought to himself "If Tommy turned into an infected in this camp and bit his pregnant wife…" He couldn't let that happen.

He crawled behind the couch ready. He could her soft crying. Tommy's neck was within striking distance. He lunged and plunged his knife into the back of Tommy's neck thrusting it up into his skull. He dropped with the knife still in him.

It all happened so fast; he was left starring at his wife. She didn't even seem shocked. She calmly rolled her husband over and extracted the knife out of him. She looked into Rich's eyes. She looked down at her husband and in one sudden movement she slit her throat and bleed out collapsing on her husband.

Rich stood there shocked; he never expected this at all. He quickly looked around searching for a way out.

"Oh my god". He heard Joel's voice. He turned and saw his shocked face, which suddenly turned uncontrollably angry as he starred into his eyes. He made a run for it. He jumped threw a window and into the street. He looked back he wasn't chasing him. He looked for a place to hide, but there was no where he could hide here, so he just kept running.

Ellie slept in her room. The door was locked; she did that whenever she felt something was up. She was tossing and turning in bed. She could feel something was wrong. She dreamed away though.

"We found the Fireflies. Turns out there's a whole lot more like you, Ellie. People that are immune. It's dozens actually. Ain't done a damn bit of good either. They've actually st- They've stopped looking for a cure. I'm taking us home. I'm sorry."

SMASH SMASH

She woke up. Somebody was trying to smash down her door. She grabbed her knife which she kept on her night stand.

"Ellie!" she heard Joel's voice. What's going on she thought.

SMASH

Joel smashed right threw the door and stumbled toward Ellie.

"C'mon we have to go, grab your things and will get going."

"What? What happened?"

"It's just not safe here anymore, c'mon we have to move." Joel grabbed her bag and bow and handed it to her. He stood at the broken door way. Ellie stumbled out of bed, she had her knife with her. She slipped on some shoes. Joel grabbed her hand and ran her down the stairs. He went for the door and they were outside just like that.

"Ellie we need a horse. Do you think you could grab one and meet me by the front gate, I have to run and do something before we leave."

"Wait." Ellie stopped. "What's going on? What happened?" She paused again. "Where are Tommy and Maria?"

Joel Stood a few feet ahead of her looking around. Trying to think of something to say that would make sense.

"Listen Ellie, the point is it's no longer safe here and we need to go right now. I know this is hard to here and this is a rough explanation, but you've got to trust me here."

It was a frustrating explanation, but if anything was true she did trust him.

"Ok. I'll get a horse. I'll see you at the front gate in a minute right?"

"Right, now hurry!" He ran of in a direction. Ellie ran toward the horse pen. She new which horse she wanted already. She whistled for her favorite horse Winston to come over. She hoped on and started riding for the gate.

"What the fuck."

She saw a few infected walking around the town. Maybe this was what Joel was talking about. But where were Tommy and Maria. She weaved between a few infected with the horse. A few lunged at her but the horse was just to fast. She heard some screaming from the houses she was passing. All those poor people sleeping in there houses being woken up by this. She kept riding past the screams.

"There's the front gate, but where's Joel?" She stopped and got off her horse. She stood there. Minutes flew bye. She began to get worried. She contemplated getting on the horse and going to look for him. 20 minutes went bye.

"That's it I got to go find him."

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped up and turned around but was relieved to see that it was Joel. He unlocked the gate and opened the door wide enough for the horse.

"Joel you're covered in blood what happened?"

"Don't worry about it." He said climbing onto the horse. He reached out for her hand. She took one last look around. She could hear people screaming in the distance. She saw the glow of something, which was most likely a fire. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up. He rode out of the town and out into the woods.

"Joel, where are we going to go?"

**Thanx for reading, I'll try to get the next one out a little quicker.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: ****Morals**

**This chapter continues the events that took place in chapter 4. Enjoy the read and be sure to comment!**

The wind blew a little bit. Then there was a subtle roar. It grew loader and louder. Ellie could hear it now to. They could hear the trees in the distance begin to crackle. Voices, they could hear voices of men.

"Come on over here." Joel said.

Ellie scuffled behind him. They recrossed the river and up the hill to the tree line. They laid down and watched. The roar became louder. It was an engine. But an engine to what? It was so loud. They saw the men first, carrying guns and wearing camouflage. They were far enough away that they wouldn't be able to see Joel and Ellie. But they still tried to be careful.

"Oh my god Joel look!"

He saw the long nose first, then the body. Five men were walking around it.

"My god, a tank."

It made a lot of noise as it crushed brush in its path. The motor buzzed in their ears even from the distance they were at. The sound drew infected towards them, but they didn't panic. They hoped on the tank took aim and cleared them and made it look easy.

"Do you think these are soldiers with the army?" Ellie asked.

"No I don't think so. None of them are in uniform and they look to straggly to be in the army."

They watched as the tank continued across there plain of view and deep into the woods with the rest of the men. They could still here the roar of the engine. Joel thought to himself. "I can't believe we didn't come across them sooner. There heading the same direction we are."

"How do you think they got that tank?" Ellie asked.

"I'm not sure, they were either lucky and found one on an abandoned army base and fixed it up, or they somehow managed to steal one."

"Maybe we should follow them."

"What? Ellie we can't trust people out here it's to much of a risk."

"I didn't say we should join them. I think if we follow them a half mile back they could clear all the infected in our way. There going the same direction we are anyway right?"

Joel thought to himself again. That wouldn't be a bad idea. It would be easy to track them with the giant path the tank made. It still seemed like a risk. He didn't want to change directions now that he new he was relatively close to the coast.

"Ok I think we can do that."

Ellie turned toward him surprised. She couldn't believe he was even listening.

"And if it turns out there good people, maybe we could join them until were all the way to the coast."

"Will see. Lets go get are stuff and start following them. They've already had a good head start."

They walked down the hill and grabbed their stuff. They quickly found the path the tank made and followed it. They started coming across the bodies of infected, all head shots. Ellie would check there pockets for anything good. So far though she had only found a switch blade.

"These guys have been doing this a while huh Joel." Ellie said. "The way they can kill these things so easily."

He thought the same thing. Who were these people anyway? Where did they come from? Did they have a plan to use that tank for more than protection?

They walked for a few hours. Ellie trailed along behind Joel looking at the trees and the sky. She thought about her life. Everyday seemed to be a struggle, she wasn't lazy, but she was tired of fighting. Her shoulder wound still hurt a lot. But she couldn't complain. Joel had had far worse injuries.

"Joel, do you think one day you'll ever tell me about what happened to Tommy and Maria."

Joel kept walking. He ignored her not wanting to talk about the situation.

"I know there dead. They have to be, I know you wouldn't abandon them there."

Joel stopped walking.

"I'm sorry Joel I just want to know."

"Ellie get down I see the tank up ahead, they've stopped to rest."

They ducked off the path the tank made and watched them. There was a clearing to there right. Some of the men were out in the field standing and looking at the opposite end of the clearing.

"What are they doing?" Ellie whispered.

Suddenly a women and a little girl came out of the opposite end of the clearing. They heard gunshots fired. Some of the men came out and started firing there guns at them.

"Oh no". Joel thought to himself. There were no good people in the world in Joel's mind, and this just furthered his own point.

They watched as the women and child ran to the midpoint of the field. A shot was fired and the child dropped.

"Mommmyyy!" The child screamed. "Heeeelllp me mommmy!" The child clung to her ankles. The mother looked around. More shots fired. She looked to the ground and started stomping the child's hands to make her let go.

"Stop mommy no!" but she continued to stomp her hands until she was free. She ran to the right of the other men and she made for the woods. Some more shots fired but she got away. No one went after her. They all circled the child who was still crying and screaming.

"Why mommy why!"

Someone stood over her, pointed a gun at the ground, and fired. The screams fell silent. The men started to joke and laugh.

"Well looks like we found us some supper". One of them said. "She's not a big one but she'll do the trick." I man leaned down and picked up the little girls arm and started to cut the meat off.

"Help me momy help me!" one of them joked as they continued to cut her up.

Joel and Ellie cringed at this. Ellie looked at Joel. He had really been affected by he just saw. She thought about Joel's daughter. She reached her hand towards Joel's shoulder. But Joel just moved away.

"Com on, were not following these people any more."

"Ok" Ellie simply said.

They walked south instead of east for the rest of the day. It grew dark and they started to set up camp. Joel made a fire and they both sat around it. They hadn't said much all day.

"I don't think I'll be able to look at a person the same way again." Ellie finally muttered.

Joel didn't expect her to say that. He had been thinking it this whole time, but he didn't expect to hear it out loud from Ellie.

"Listen Ellie, it's hard to believe there's good people out there, but you and me, you believe were good people right?"

"Yes, I do. What would you have done in that situation."

Joel looked at her again and made eye contact.

"Well I certainly wouldn't have abandoned you!"

"What if it was going to cost you your life?"

Joel stopped and thought about that situation. It's hard to put yourself into one of those.

Ellie continued, "If it was going to cost you your life, I'd want you to leave me."

Joel stood up. "That's enough I would never abandon you and I would never led us into a situation like that."

Ellie didn't respond to what he said. "She got away you no. That little girls mother. The strong push down the weak to keep them afloat, and then the weak die and the strong get to live. That's what I learned today. I'm weak sometimes Joel. If we were in a situation like that, I'd want you to push me down."

Joel stood there almost shocked. He never heard Ellie talk like this. If anyone should live in a situation were one of them dies he that he should. Ellie is far younger and much more deserving of life.

"Ellie I don't know whats gotten into you, but we are not those people. I would die for…" Joel stopped.

Ellie looked up. "Would you really?"

Joel quickly changed the subject. "You need to get all that at of your head. It's a bad world and bad things happen and then we move on."

Ellie looked down. She drawing something the dirt with a stick. Joel felt bad. He couldn't let the night end like this especially after such a crummy day.

"I've been thinking. If we spend another day moving south we should be clear of all those men with the tank, then we can start heading east again. It should only take a few more days."

"Ok, sounds good." Ellie mumbled.

"And then when we get to the coast, I think it'd be good if we started looking for a house."

Ellie perked up. "You want to get a home?"

"Well I figure if we find a good spot, and it's safe, we take the time to fortify it, it may be safer than traveling around all the time."

Ellie smiled. "Thank you Joel".

Joel gave a quick smirk. "We should hit the hay, we've got a big day tomorrow."

**The next chapter should be coming pretty quickly. Thanx to all of those who have read and followed this story:) It's much appreciated:)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: The Coast**

**Next chapter will be a prequel chapter of Ellie and Joel right after they left Tommy's town.**

Joel ran into the town. He looked back and made sure Ellie was riding her horse towards the gate. He had one thing on his mind. He was going to find the man that killed his brother and his brother's wife. He couldn't let him go not after what he did.

He covered his brother and his wife under a blanket before he got Ellie from her room. Surprisingly she hadn't heard anything, then again neither had he? There was no time for a burial. They were still laying there. This night had gone to hell. Only a few hours ago he and his brother were repairing the wall together. That seemed so many years away now.

"Oh no." he muttered. Some infected had gotten in the town. He pulled out his gun and fired twice killing to infected. "How did infected get into town?" he wondered. The wall must've gotten worse; something must've gone horribly wrong. He saw some more infected.

"No"

It was some of the men who been working on the wall with him. Infected were eating there corpses. He couldn't stop though he continued running until he was in the middle of town.

He went back to focusing on the mission at hand. The man who killed his brother. He new who the man was and were he lived, but he doubted he would be at his house. There was a lot places he could be held up. Joel had a feeling that if he stayed out in the open that the other man would make the first move. He stayed center of town, walking were he could be well seen.

"Come out here you coward." He yelled.

BAM

A gun fired and a bullet skidded right past Joel's feet. He quickly took cover behind a wall. He knew exactly who was firing at him. He peaked around the corner and waved his arm.

BAM

Another gunshot. This time he saw were it came from. A roof top a few hundred feet away. He circled the wall he was behind and stayed in the shadows until he was behind the building. He climbed the fire escape on to the roof and he saw him. The man who killed his brother. Joel kept his anger controlled. He crept up behind him and lifted his to his shoulders. In one quick movement he turned him around.

BAM

He got a shot off but missed Joel. He was on top of him now.

Joel swatted the gun away.

"No please!" the man said. "This is what I wanted. I wanted to keep are town safe!"

"Shut up, you made a call that was mine to make. I had the situation under control and you intruded and now your going to pay for it."

Nooo! No!"

Joel started swinging at his face. The man put up his hands to protect himself but Joel swung hard. All his anger came out as he relentlessly and mercilessly beat his face into a pulp. The man had stopped moving. Blood covered Joel's fists. His face was completely distorted and bleeding heavily. He could feel his heart beat slowing.

"Bastard". Joel muttered exhaustively as he stood up. He took out his gun aimed at his head. His finger tightened the trigger.

"HEY WAKE UP" Ellie yelled cheerfully.

Joel rolled over and rubbed his eyes.

"I got up early and found some eggs in a nest. I made you some breakfast." Ellie said cheerfully. She had been up for hours. Joel was yelling in his sleep and she didn't want to listen to it. She walked around the small camp they made last night and explored a bit. She went threw a lot more trouble to get those eggs then she let on. She had to climb a tree and have a mother bird swoop in at her while she took the eggs and made a run for it.

Joel sat up. It was early morning. They had traveled a few days. He expected they would hit the coast today. He stood up and stretched. He walked over to the breakfast Ellie had made him. The eggs were small but there were quite a few of them. He had a couple. "This is better than squirrel any day" he thought.

"So about our house, I was thinking we should pick one out with a patio and maybe it should be two stories."

"I think it should be the safest one we can find." Joel simply put.

Ellie ignored him. "What time today do you think we'll hit the coast."

"Well, I'd say if we start moving pretty quick we could make it an hour after sunset. Maybe."

"Well what are we waiting for! Lets go!" Ellie got up excitedly. She was in great mood. Joel couldn't help but feel happy for her. He didn't think she would go back to the way she was after everything that had happened in the past few weeks.

They started to travel. It was a nice day not to hot, not to cold. Birds were chirping and the sun reflected the morning dew off the grass. Ellie was enjoying it all, humming and whistling. Joel couldn't enjoy it, his dream had bothered him.

"hmmmmm hm hm hmmm." Ellie hummed away.

Joel felt bad keeping her in the dark about everything that happened to Tommy and Maria and the town. He couldn't bring himself to say anything though. It hurt to talk about his brother, and to admit to murdering his brother's killer, it was hard to even think about. If he told her then would she really think less of him? He had seen him do a lot. He new eventually there was a point were Ellie might think he was a bad man.

He looked over at her. A few days ago she was down, really down. Now it looked like she didn't have a care in the world. "Teenagers." He thought. She's gunna be a handful when she's 16, 17. He stopped himself from thinking about that. It scared him a little bit. His daughter Sarah never made it as old as Ellie. So this was all new to him.

They walked all day. They hardly stopped to take a break. They had been focused so hard on traveling that they had spoken to each other all day. Ellie was thinking to herself in her head. She was wondering how things would be when they settled into a house. Would it be the same between her and Joel if they had there own space. The sun was halfway set when Ellie broke the silence.

"Joel, are there horses on the east coast?"

"Well, there may be wild horses on the beach."

"Do you think we could tame one?"

"Well, that may be difficult to do, but it might be useful in the long run. It'd be good for travel to have a horse again."

"I already no what I'm gunna name it." Ellie smiled.

The tree's cleared again. They walked into the backyard of an abandoned house and into a neighborhood. Joel noticed something about this neighborhood. All the houses had been maintained. The lawns were mowed even.

"What is this?" he muttered.

"Hey Joel look at this!" Ellie was in an abandoned dune buggy.

"What a cute little car." She said smiling.

Joel walked over and looked in the back. He saw a surf board and some flip-flops. It looked recently used to. The surfboard still had wet sand on it. Joel looked at the house the car was parked in front of. It was well maintained like all the others. Except this was the only one that had the door and windows boarded up.

"We should go Ellie, someone is obviously living around here."

"What is this place though, aren't you curios, everything looks so clean."

"I'm not curious, in fact this place makes me nervous, something's not right here. We need to go, besides it looks like were closing in the coast, we could be there in a half hour if we hustle."

Ellie hopped off the Dune Buggy, "Alright, lets go." Joel looked around again, no one was in sight, who was taking care of all this? There was something eerie about all this. It's like someone was preserving this one location.

They walked out of the neighborhood in into the woods again. It wasn't long before they felt cold ocean wind and noticed the smell of salt in the air. Ellie was a buzz with excitement. All this journeying and they were finally about to get there. Joel could hardly enjoy it. His mind was on the neighborhood they passed threw. It seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't understand why.

"EEEE" "EEEE".

Some seagulls flew overhead. They walked a little further and heard the sound of waves crashing. Ellie ran with excitement.

"Where here! Where here!" she squealed. Joel walked up to where she was. There it was the ocean. Waves crashing down on the sand. He couldn't help but smile. He looked down the beach and saw some houses.

"Those look like some good places. We could look for a home there."

Ellie didn't reply. He looked to where she was, but she wasn't there.

"Ellie!" Joel yelled. No reply. She was nowhere in sight.

**Thanx again for reading:) Hopefully the next chapter won't take to long.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**This chapter leads up to the end of chapter 9. It follows and gives a backstory to a new character. Be sure to follow the story if you like it!**

"Well if were going to make it to the beach we best leave now Spud." Eric said to his dog.

He had just finished everything he wanted to do. He mowed all of the neighboring yards and cleaned all the windows.

He smiled down to his chocolate lab. "Let's get going."

Eric lived in his own world. He new how the world was now, infected, and every man's struggle to stay alive. Despite that he had done quite well for himself. He had his own garden from which he got food. He also had a bow and knew how to set traps in the woods.

"Com on boy get in the car." He called out to spud. The dog jumped in and they both drove off.

He lived in an empty neighborhood that used to be full of life. It all changed in a matter of days. Infected ravaged the streets. Children, women, men, all perished. Those who survived went to live in army reserves. But not Eric. He couldn't let go of how life used to be. He stayed behind and took care of the houses on his block. He spent over 20 years alone.

He had a schedule he would follow. Every morning he woke up and he hunted until noon. He took care of all the houses afterwards doing lawn work and general home upkeep. He followed this routine every day for 20 years. Eventually his mind warped, the uncontrollable loneliness would get to him. Thankfully he had his dog, his only companion. He had found her 5 years ago as a puppy.

He also had the beach. It was his only escape. The beach was quiet. Infected never seemed to go there. Spud loved to run on the sand and play in the waves. Every time he took his dune buggy for a spin he would have to syphon gas from abandoned cars. It was useful to have a working car. He had been a car mechanic before everything went to hell so he took good care of it.

Eric had lived alone before everything happened. He was in his mid 20's and fresh out of college. He loved the neighborhood. He loved his house. He had problems with break in's at his old place. So he spared no penny getting his home secure. He made sure he purchased the heaviest safest doors. On top of it he got 5 inch thick windows. He never new how handy that would all be in the future.

Everything was going well until he woke up from screams one night. He remembered the night very well. He heard people banging on his door.

"Help! Help! We need help!"

He ran down stairs and opened the door. Five neighbors rushed in and relocked it.

"What's going on?" He said.

A man with his wife and kids replied. "Something's gone wrong with the rest of the neighbors. There tearing people apart."

"Have you called the police?"

"Yes, but they didn't respond to well and then the phone line went down. A few of our neighbors got into our home. They scratched up both our kids but we got out of there and came here."

"Thank you for letting us in." the wife replied.

"No problem, here I think I have a first aid kit for kids." Eric replied.

Both the kids were pale and quiet. One was a boy and one a girl. Both of them couldn't be older than 10. He went into his kitchen and grabbed his first aid kit.

He could still hear screaming outside. It was terrible. He felt a sense of panic but calmed himself.

"Your all welcome into the living room down the hall" he yelled out.

He grabbed some glasses and poured out some water. He walked into his living giving the parents the first aid kit and the kids some water.

"Now what are your names?" he asked.

The girl responded first. "I'm Lucy." The boy responded next but in a weak voice. "I'm Rick."

"Those scratch marks don't look to good."

"They really burn." The girl responded. "It's making me feel dizzy." The boy said. He had some sweat on his forehead.

That can't be good Eric thought. These kids might need a doctor.

"Will take care of this." The father interrupted. "Thank you for everything." He said opening up the first aid kit.

Eric realized here was another woman there. Separate from the family. He immediately recognized her as her neighbor from directly across the street. She had reddish brown hair with green freckled eyes. She was about his age, a little short, but had a real pretty face. She looked nervous. She hadn't spoken once.

"Are you ok miss?"

She looked up and they made eye contact. He felt a slight shiver in his body. He was pretty sure he saw her have one to. He felt very warm being next to her.

"I'm ok." She responded.

"What's your name I've seen you from across the street time to time."

"I'm Alex, I've seen you over here as well." She said in a sweet voice.

"So what happened?" Eric asked.

"I woke up to my neighbor acting crazy scratching at my window. I yelled at him to stop but he just seemed out of his mind. Then he broke through the glass and I ran. I got out of my house and there were more people like that in the streets. It's awful out there."

"You've got blood on your arm." He noticed.

"Yes, I was running across the street and one of them grabbed me and, bit me."

Eric opened his eyes so he would stop remembering. He had spent some time at the beach. The sun was getting lower and the tide had begun to go out. He was sitting on a rock with his dog who was sleeping in his lap. He pet his dog a few times. He loved having her as a companion. He nudged her a bit.

"Come on time to go back."

She kept sleeping. He looked out over the water. It was so peaceful. It made him forget the entire world that was behind him. He gently picked up his sleeping dog and put her in the passengers seat. He drove home.

Eric was now in his home cleaning. He checked the nails in his windows to make sure none of them were loose. He liked to keep the windows boarded up, it was still an infected world after all. He was almost done for the day when he heard a noise outside. The noise was coming from the neighboring woods. It was voices.

"Hey Joel look at this!"

It was the voice of a girl.

"What a cute little car." The voice said again.

Eric peered out his window and saw a young girl inside of his dune buggy. A man walked up to her.

"We should go Ellie, someone is obviously living around here."

"What is this place though, aren't you curios, everything looks so clean." She replied.

"I'm not curious, in fact this place makes me nervous, something's not right here. We need to go, besides it looks like were closing in the coast, we could be there in a half hour if we hustle."

Who were these people Eric thought. They didn't look like typical travelers. He watched them walk out of the neighbor hood into the woods towards the ocean. He stopped peering out the window.

"That girl, she looked just like." Eric swallowed. He thought for a minute. He went into the kitchen and grabbed a knife and a few things. He looked down to where spud was sitting..

"Do you remember that girl Alex I told you about spud? Well she's finally come back. I'm going to go out and get her. Your gunna lover her, she's a very nice person. I'm going to be right back spud." He patted him on the head and left home to follow them.

He caught up to them and trailed behind. He didn't want to tangle with the big guy. He knew if he waited he would get his opportunity. He followed them all the way to the beach.

"Where here! Where Here!" the girl squealed.

Eric watched. This is what he had been waiting for. They both seemed to lose themselves in this moment. Eric crept up. He took the blunt end of his knife and got up right behind the girl. The big guy was just a few feet away but was still lost in the moment. Eric knew he had one shot at this. He was going to have to be very quiet and quick about it.

He raised the blunt end of his knife and struck the girl in the back of the head while almost simultaneously covering her mouth. She passed out and he caught her. He quietly stepped back away with the girl in his arms. He crept away from the big guy and once he was far enough away he made a break for it.

**Comment your name and your favorite chapter and i'll choose a few peoples name for an upcoming characters:)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**I'll be using the name Cassie for an upcoming character, thanx for the review from cas8817:) Enjoy!**

"Here lets get that cleaned up". Eric said. He took her into the kitchen and turned on the faucet. She washed the blood off her arm.

"How bad does it hurt?" He asked.

"It doesn't hurt as much as it did. It feels numb and tingly now." Alex responded.

"Thank you for opening up your home to me by the way."

Eric smiled as he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her arm. They walked back into the other room were everyone else was. The kids looked a bit paler. Their mom was holding them close.

"Is there anything more I can do?" He asked the dad.

"No thank you, I think all we can do is wait until things clear up and take them to the doctor. Thanks for everything."

He looked at the kids. They weren't saying anything. They were clutched close to there mother. He began to think again. What was going on outside. Should he be more concerned? Should he be preparing in case something really extreme happens.

He felt someone tap his shoulder which made him jump a little bit. He turned around to see Alex.

"Hey, can we talk, I'm just really nervous and it'd make me feel better to talk to someone."

"Sure". Eric said smiling.

He walked her over to a couch and sat down with her. He still felt very warm to next to her. Despite the situation he still felt very attracted towards this girl. They kept making eye contact and looking away. It felt very awkward, but it was a good kind of awkward.

"What would you like to talk about?" Eric asked.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm really worried about my arm. It's gone nearly completely numb, and I'm so light headed."

"Will get you to a doctor as soon as things clear up outside. I expected the police or the army to roll through soon."

"I hope so." She said concerned. He could tell she was scared. Everyone was.

"So, tell me about yourself Alex." It seemed weird to be asking this now but he wanted to get her mind off of what was going on outside.

"Well, I'm 25, I moved here from Colorado not so long ago, I'm working as a waitress right now and attending grad school."

"Do you have family out here?"

"No, I've made a few friends but most of the time I'm alone."

"If you don't mind me asking, how can you afford a house on a waitresses' salary?"

"Well, my mother died about a year ago, and I inherited enough money to put a down payment on that house and pay for my school."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's ok, i'm doing everything she would have wanted me to do."

Suddenly they heard a woman scream. Alex grabbed Eric and pushed herself against him.

"Don't worry were safe in here, I promise."

"It's still awful out there." Alex said not letting him go.

"I'm so light headed, do you mind if I take a nap. Thank you for keeping me company. I'm just suddenly tired."

Eric opened his eyes and stopped remembering. He lifted Ellie on to a chair and started to tie her arms and legs up. He put a blindfold over her eyes. Eric smiled as he looked down at the unconscious girl.

"When you wake up, we can pick up right were we left off, Alex."

Joel panicked. Ellie was nowhere to be found. She had been standing right next to him, and she vanished. He continued to look around thinking that she would be in his field of view somewhere, but she was nowhere. He ran down onto the beach.

"ELLIE!" he yelled. Nothing, the waves kept crashing down. It was getting darker. He was so confused, it all had happened so fast. One second they had reached the place they had been traveling to and then she was just gone. Joel ran back up to the spot he last saw her. He searched around looking for anything.

"How could this happen" he thought. He looked away for just a second and she was gone. "What could of happened to her" he thought.

He looked at the ground were she was last standing. He could see the grass was mushed down in footprints, but no footprints followed.

"She couldn't of ran off. Was she just lifted into the sky?"

He looked behind her footprints. There were some more footprints in the grass. He thought they must've been from Ellie walking up to the last spot she last stood. But these were a bit bigger. They were more indented into the ground then Ellie's foot prints, meaning it must have been someone heavier.

"Oh no. Someone took her." He realized. He punched the ground angrily. "How could I let this happen."

He looked toward the woods were they came from. He walked over and looked at the branches. Some of them were broken and bent. He looked close to the ground, some of the leaves and grass was also mushed in foot prints. He looked up towards the branches again. He saw some hair stuck to a branch. He grabbed it and examined it. It was long and brown. It was Ellie's.

"Fuck. Who did this." He thought about the whole day and all the places they had come across. He suddenly remembered the neighborhood they passed through. If anyone had seen them recently it was someone around there. They could of easily followed them waiting for an opportunity to take her.

Joel ran into the woods, back towards the neighborhood. He kept a good pace. How far could this guy have gotten with her. He thought he might be able to catch up to him if he ran fast enough. He gripped his gun just in case he did run into him. It was completely dark now, making it harder to run in the woods. Sweat ran down Joel's neck.

"When I get this guy I'm gunna rip his fucking head off."

Ellie woke up with a pain in her head. She let out a painful moan. She opened her eyes but it was still dark. She tried to move her arms but something restricted them. She opened her mouth, it was dry and she could taste blood.

"Hello?" she said. No one responded.

She wiggled her legs. They were restrained to. She could feel that she was sitting upright.

"What happened, what's going on?" She wondered. She had a bad pain in her head.

"I can see your awake." A voice said. "I've waited a long time for you to come to me."

Eric walked toward Ellie making echoing foot steps on the hard wood floor. Ellie felt a hand brush her cheek.

"I suspect your friend will be here soon."

"Don't hurt him!" Ellie burst out.

"You can do what you want with me but don't hurt him!"

Eric paused for a second. He sat down next his dog and pet him a bit.

"I wish it could be that way. But your friend will want me dead as soon as he finds me. So I'm afraid it's kill or be killed. Luckily I have the upper hand. Now that its dark out he won't know how to get around this place half as good as I do."

"What do you want from me!" Ellie yelled.

Eric began to walk toward the door with his gun. He pat his dog on the head one more time before he left. He opened the door and replied right before he left.

"I just want you back, Alex."

Ellie heard the door close. She was stricken with fear and confusion. She wrestled with the ropes that restrained her but it was no use, they were to strong.

She heard soft breathing and then what sounded like an animal walking on a wood floor. She whistled a little bit. The walking stopped. She heard a slight bark.

It was a dog she realized. "Come here boy come here" she called out. She heard the walking come toward her. She felt a tail wagging against her leg. Then she felt something licking her hands which were bound behind her back around the chair.

"You wanna play tug of war" she encouraged. She moved her hands placing some of the rope in the dogs mouth. Sure enough the dog started to tug.

"Good boy keep going." The dog was pulling the wrong section of the knot and it was tightening it but Ellie kept trying. The dog regripped it's mouth and tugged. She felt the ropes loosen just a little.

"Com on keep tugging boy."

She pulled against the dog's grip slowly untightening the ropes. Soon enough she could wiggle her wrists. She tried slipping one hand from the knot. She was almost over the palm when the dog gave a final last jerk and her hand slipped all the way out.

"Yes!"

She used her free hand to take off her blindfold. She was in a house. She undid the rest of the rope and stood up off the chair. Her head hurt but then a thought crossed her head.

"Joel!"

**The next chapter will probably come in about 10 days. Thanx if you have read this far into the story:)**


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